Yup, it's a tractor.

On Saturday, we had a very exciting day! Gerard got a new toy and the whole family enjoyed checking it out this weekend!
Liam had fun pretending to drive.

Owen and Liam climbed into the front-end loader. So, I handed them Gavin and took a photo.

Since Gerard made it look so easy, I thought I would take a turn. Owen wanted to join me.

Daddy mowing.

Me and Liam.

Gerard and Owen doing the royal wave from their chariot.

Gavin is a happy baby. But, he is most happy and gives the biggest laughs when Owen is paying attention to him. So cute.

Silly Owen.

Gavin swinging.

Liam in the treehouse!

So fun!! We have a weekend full of tractor driving coming up for Memorial Weekend, too!

this is how we roll....

I am not sure if it's because he is the youngest of three, because he has torticollis which may delay gross motor skills, or because he has such a laid back personality, but.... whatever it is, Gavin just isn't that into rolling over. He can do it. We've all seen him. But, he just doesn't do it very often. Could also be that since he's learned to sit up, that's his preferred position as he can watch his crazy brothers better from an upright position.
Regardless of the reason, we are having to work with him on rolling (orders of his physical therapist) and getting his baby ab muscles stronger so he can sit straighter for longer periods of time.

Lucky for Gavin, he has 2 big brothers that are eager to help him hit his milestones and make his PT happy. Here they are plotting their efforts. No, really, Owen and Liam were waiting to watch little man roll over. It's quite an event. It happens so seldom that everyone cheers when he does it....
Liam, in particular, likes cheering. So, he kept rolling Gavin back on his tummy and then....

Scooting over to cheer him on to roll over again....

...and again, and again.

Owen, on the other hand, is the big "sitting" helper. He will lift Gavin by his shoulders to a sit and then perform silly antics that make Gavin laugh so hard he plops over, just to help him up again.

I think Owen likes the belly laughs he elicits from his captive audience.

Lucky for Gavin, he has two brothers that are eager to see him succeed! Luky for me, I get to watch them have a blast together.

Yup, that's how we roll....every success in this house is a team effort and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Five Months Old (ahem...better late than never)

Guess who turned five month's old last week! Yes, last week. I know. I am late with the post. I was late with the picture, too. At least the picture was closer to the day than the blog post is...I took the picture on May 5th (2 days late).

At five months, Gavin is still the best. baby. ever. period. He smiles when he is awake. He plays and giggles and laughs and is just so fun! Then, he sleeps like a dream. Mother's day, he went to bed at 4:45 in the afternoon and slept through the night. I have to say, I missed the little fella.

I guess it goes without saying that wearing the Doc Band isn't effecting his mood or sleep! Gavin is rocking in physical therapy. For PT, they take the Doc Band off so they can evaluate him better. His head tilt has improved from 22 degrees to 4 degrees! He now has full range of motion to the left. He is doing so great! We are now working on making looking to the left more of a habit; he still prefers the right. Also, working on his baby ab muscles so he can roll over and sit better. Cub-a-lub doesn't have a 6-pack, than's for sure.

he loves PT. he loves any one-on-one play time. at gymboree last Saturday, he talked to me the whole time. Little guy was noisy!

....his PT had him on the exercise ball to work his abs... cutie.

So, Gavin may not have quite as many pictures of his babyhood as Owen and Liam did. But, he does have more pictures with Mom than either of the boys--thanks to Owen who likes to borrow my camera!

So, there it is. Gavin at 5 months old, 8 days late ;-)

Mother's Day

Just a few photos from my fabulous Mother's Day!
Lunch at Chuck E. Cheese was so fun! The roller coaster ride was a big hit!

LOVE their faces.

the middle brother.

Liam is the sweetest brother. He looks up to Owen like no other. I have a lot of pictures now of Liam looking at Owen instead of the camera. If Owen is sad because there is only one Thomas the Train cup and Liam got to have it b/c it was Liam's turn to pick cups, Liam feels bad for Owen and shares.

If Owen gets hurt, Liam toddles over and says "What's da madder, O-nan?" I mean. He is a doll.

But, it isn't just Owen that Liam is a good brother to. Liam absolutely adores Gavin. Liam and I took Gavin to a doctor appointment recently, and Liam was so worried about him. When the boys are watching t.v., Liam will climb in my lap to be next to Gavin and he will just pet Gavin on the arm, leg, head, whatever.

And, in the wagon the other night, Liam wanted to have his turn holding his little brother. Look at how happy Gavin is in Liam's arms.

we love our little middle guy.

Pure Joy

Easter in the Country

We spent Easter with Pa and Grammie at the RV last weekend. This was, perhaps, one of the best weekends we have ever had out there! I was sad to miss Easter service at church, but enjoyed an amazing service with some of my cousins on Saturday.
Owen and Liam are at the stage that I have always dreamed of. When we planned to have our children close together in age, this is what I pictured. Sure, they fight. Sure, they gang up on me when they want something. But, the SURE do love each other, too. They can play together so well now and they both seem to make a point to include Gavin as best they can. Liam will place a tractor in Gavin's hand. Owen comes to check on Gavin periodically. They are just the best!

Okay, back to the weekend. Pa put a tire swing up for the boys. He didn't want to just WATCH the action. So, he climbed in and hoisted Liam to his lap. They swung for a while and then Liam hopped out. Pa then got out...but, it took some creativity and putting up with me and Grammie laughing. He finally figured a way out. It was so funny. I went to swing next and was getting in like Pa had. Owen said "mom, don't swing." I told him I really wanted to. He said, okay, but don't do it like Pa. Either get on the very top or swing on your tummy. Too funny.

The boys sharing the tire swing....

The horses in the neighboring field came to the fence a lot ... Owen drove his tractor over to check them out.

The boys playing chicken with their lawnmowers...

My cousins and I at our Easter service on Saturday. My 25 year old cousin, Lauren, graduated from Texas A&M in December. Whoop! Sadly, in January, she was involved in a tragic accident that has left her paralyzed. She wanted to worship with family, so their pastor made the trip to East Texas, where Lauren is, and we had our own private service together. It was amazing. She looked so pretty!!!

Easter Morning. The boys woke to find their Easter baskets on the dash of the RV ;-)

They looked through the baskets and then couldn't wait to get outdoors and hunt the eggs!

We had so much fun hunting in the clearing of the property!!

Liam got more into it here than he did the week before at Gymboree.

Yay! "Got it!"

Eggs in the tire swing....got em!

More eggs in the field!

Liam doing what Liam does best...stopping mid-activity for a snack! That boy.

Liam following his big bro in hopes of finding more eggs.

I bought some confetti eggs for us to do. You are supposed to smash them on each other's head. I smashed one on Pa. We asked Owen to, and he just wouldn't do it. Neither would Liam. So, we threw them at the big oak tree! That was more fun for my tender-hearted boy. We had a blast smashing the eggs!

Liam hopped on Owen's tractor and took it for a spin! He is getting so big so fast.

After the festivities, back at work clearing the property. Sunday, we pulled vines from the trees.

A sweet picture of the little guy...he didn't hunt eggs or clear the property, so its just a picture of him watching the trees from the safety of the play pin!

Our Easter lunch was from Dairy Queen. Mom and I have vowed to do better next year. But, Liam sure did LOVE his dilly bar.

Hope you and your family had a great Easter, too.